Warriors take road trip seriously

The Warriors haven't played a whole lot of meaningful games in April in recent years, so new coach Mark Jackson is taking a different approach this season.

He's putting April-type importance on January games.

Saturday's 112-100 loss at Charlotte wasn't exactly a "must-win," but it surely was a game the Warriors had expected to win to tip off what they thought could be a season-turning Eastern swing.

"The fact of the matter is, we've got four teams that are at or below .500 right now," David Lee observed on the eve of the swing through Charlotte, Detroit, Cleveland and New Jersey. "We need to go take care of business.

"If we come back with a losing record from this road trip, it should be a huge disappointment. This is a road trip to places where we need to go take care of business and get three or possibly four victories. I don't see it any other way at this point."

Well, 4-0 is now out the window, but 3-1 remains a possibility as the Warriors prepare to take on the Pistons on Sunday night.

Of course, 1-3 and even 0-4 remain possibilities, too. And in fact, being that the Warriors are just 3-8 under Jackson and traditionally have been a relatively weak road team, perhaps the latter outcomes are the most likely.

Just don't tell that to the wishful-thinking Warriors, who see consecutive wins at Detroit, Cleveland and New Jersey as a means of getting to 6-8 and beginning a run to a playoff spot.